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Adelaide
07-06-2013, 02:37 AM
Linor Abargil's rapist took out a knife, punched her in the face, and raped her while repeatedly stabbing her. He then tied her up with rope and masking tape and raped her again. Finally, he put a plastic bag over her head and started to strangle her.

Seven weeks later, she was crowned Miss World 1998.

The type of abuse described above is all too familiar to the countless number of women and men who are victims of rape. Abargil was simply thrust into the spotlight, where she could use her position to be a voice for others. She began telling her story, started a website (http://www.linordocumentary.com/), and soon, rape survivors started opening up to her.

“It’s the same story, but a different person,” Abargil learned.

Her journey, chronicled over five years in the powerful new film Brave Miss World, took her around the globe—from living with her family in Israel to meeting with talkative young rape survivors in South Africa to attending a vigil at Princeton University in New Jersey and finally to Italy to face the place where her rape occurred.

...

It is shocking to hear the details of the rapes of these big stars. But perhaps even more heart-wrenching are the stories of seemingly typical women and girls whom Abargil interviewed, which are interspersed throughout the film.

One woman said her case wasn’t “compelling” enough because there were no bruises on her face.

Another woman’s case went nowhere because she is blind and couldn’t describe the rapist to authorities.

Girls in South Africa told Abargil that men rape young virgins because they believe it rids them of HIV/AIDS.

And one girl said that when she sat down with authorities, the district attorney said she thought her alleged rapist was “cute.”

A lawyer now, Abargil says she knows firsthand that the justice system needs to be updated.

“Sentences for rape are so short. That has to be changed,” she says. “It’s hard to determine the truth—it’s always he said versus she said—and it’s hard for victims to come forward. There needs to be mandatory training for police in how to respond to reports of rape.”

Documentary Recounts Rape of Miss World - the Daily Beast (http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/07/01/brave-miss-world-linor-abargil-s-quest-for-justice-after-rape.html)

Linor Abargil is an amazing woman to be able to not only go public, but to speak to other survivors and to participate in the documentary. That takes an immense amount of courage. She's telling the story of women around the world and the fight they face against sexual violence. Apparently the director of the film says they want to make this film part of mandatory education in places like college campuses where rapes are shockingly common.

And it touches on the fact criminal sentences for rapists are ridiculously short when they are actually given out. Some people want to advocate an eye for eye or more, which I think is wrong, but it's pretty pathetic that the average jail time served by rapists in the US is just over 5 years (when going by average release dates, not the actual sentence given, according to the DOJ).

Peter1469
07-06-2013, 07:13 AM
Yes, it did take a lot of courage for her to speak out.

junie
07-06-2013, 09:48 AM
wow... i had never heard of her... she is inspiring!





Eleven years ago, Linor Abargil was crowned Miss World. As the 18-year-old Israeli model smiled for the TV cameras and accepted the congratulations of her fellow contestants, no one would have suspected that the memory of a horrific ordeal was still fresh in her mind.


Seven weeks earlier, she had been raped at knifepoint.


Since then, Abargil — now 29, and a household name in her native Israel — has been on a mission to convince rape victims who are reluctant to go to the police not to let their attackers get away without punishment. To further her cause, she is making a documentary about her harrowing experience and her fight to have the man who attacked her brought to justice.


http://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-features/how-miss-world-made-rapist-pay

oceanloverOH
07-06-2013, 01:18 PM
Bravo, Linor! And thanks for sharing this story, Adelaide. Rape is a horrible act against a person....it violates your body, your emotions, your psyche, and your soul forever. I did not go through a "violent" rape, thank God.....but at age 14, I was the victim of "date rape". I said no and my boyfriend said oh, yes and proceeded to go right ahead against my will, with me screaming and kicking and crying the whole time. I was too ashamed and embarrassed to tell my parents; I believed the hype that it was my fault, that I "asked for it".......after all, this was 1969. I still bear some emotional scarring from it. Even though I *know* my husband would never do such a thing....once we were play-wrestling and he held me down to tickle me or something. I totally freaked out when he wouldn't let me up; scared the bejezus out of him until I finally told him the story. My heart goes out to rape victims....I can only imagine how bad it would be with knifing, pummeling, suffocation etc. in addition to the rape.

Adelaide
07-07-2013, 04:56 PM
wow... i had never heard of her... she is inspiring!

Yeah, I had never heard of her before I read the article either. It's pretty amazing she survived, won and is now telling her story.